This study utilized a longitudinal design, to assess the relationship between measures of problem solving skill, self-appraised problem solving ability, and coping style and measures of adjustment: suicidal ideation, depression, psychological symptomotology, general well-being, and the number of visits to the campus health center. Using multiple regression equations, the direct relationships of the cognitive variables to the measures of adjustment were tested. In addition, interactive effects of the cognitive variables with stress, as predicted by the diathesis-stress hypothesis, originally forwarded by Schotte & Clum (1982) were also examined. Findings demonstrated that the cognitive variables had main effects on the measures of adjustment. Many variables also interacted with stress to account for additional variance in the measures of adjustment. It was also found that the variables accounted for independent variance in predicting adjustment. Problem solving skill, self-appraised problem solving ability, and coping style were separate and distinct predictors of the process of assimilating or accommodating to stressful events. / Ph. D.

The thesis reports an investigation of 1060 freshman admissions to Virginia Polytechnic Institute in fall, 1961. Multiple regression methods were used to produce equations linking college performance with high school rank and College Board verbal and mathematical scores. Analyses were done for males and females, civilians and cadets. The three predictors accounted for only 34 percent of the variation in first year QCA among males. High school rank contributed most to the prediction; verbal score was found to be a very poor predictor. Predictions were more reliable for accumulative year performance than for first quarter only. Prediction error is discussed and expectancy tables constructed. Actual and predicted quality credit averages were used to investigate subgroups of the sample. Differences were found between civilians and cadets, Virginians and Out Of-Staters. Cooperative, drop-out, and trial summer school groups all had distinct characteristics. Curriculum groups differed widely in actual performance, but in most cases, corresponded to prediction. Exceptions are discussed. The same data was subjected to discriminant analysis, using two extra variables, civilian or cadet status, and Virginia or Out Of-State school. The function divided students by a predicted QCA of 1.000, with 28 percent probability of misclassification. Rank alone was found to be more effective in prediction than verbal and mathematical scores combined. Results of investigation into subgroups using discriminant predictions agreed with regression findings, with different exceptions to curriculum non-significance. Prediction is advised by regression rather than by discriminant analysis, but the present results are not recommended for future application, for reasons discussed. / Master of Science

The purpose of this study is to determine how accurately the academic success of one hundred and sixty-seven freshmen at North Texas State College could have been predicted by the American Council on Education Psychological examinations. The question studied is: Can freshman success, as indicated by first term freshman grades, be better predicted by psychological examination scores than by analysis of their high school grades? In an attempt to answer this question, the relationships existing between the high school grades, psychological examination scores and first term college grades of the freshman class entering North Texas State College in the fall of 1949 have been studied.

The purpose of this study is to determine what problems the ninth-grade students of the North Texas Demonstration School at Denton, Texas, and the Denton Junior High School, say concern them most and to make some recommendations for helping students solve these problems.

Despite the fact that over one-third of all colleges and universities have an advising center staffed by non-faculty, current research does not include systematic investigations of the impact of routine interventions of advising centers. The purpose of this study was to assess such an impact on freshman academic achievement, involvement in the university, and certain developmental outcomes. From a population of 628 freshman business students, 300 were randomly selected and assigned to three groups. Each group was randomly assigned to one of three treatments: a traditional advising center, an additional three interventions during the first term, or an additional six interventions during the first two terms. Academic persistence, progress and grade point averages were collected for each student. From the 260 students still enrolled at the beginning of the third term, 175 (67.3%) usable responses to the College Student Experiences Questionnaire (CSEQ) and the Advising Survey Form (ASF) were analyzed. Analysis of variance yielded no significant differences among the three groups in the three areas of academic achievement, involvement in the university, and developmental outcomes. However, the group receiving interventions for one term had the highest scores on five of the six ASF advising outcomes scales. Orthogonal contrasts between the no- intervention group and the two intervention groups yielded one unanticipated significant difference: the no-intervention group was more persistent than the two receiving interventions. Further orthogonal contrasts between just the two intervention groups yielded no significant differences. The number of student-initiated visits to the advisor did not appear to be a contributor to the impact; such visits had significant negative correlations with only academic progress and grade point average. A loglinear logit model used to compare the responses to the six interventions yielded a significant difference among the interventions on perceived caring from the advisor and effectiveness of the intervention. Although all interventions elicited high levels of perceived caring, the first intervention, an introductory call, elicited less than expected. Also, although all the interventions were largely perceived as effective, the second, a registration meeting, was found even more effective than the others. Perceived caring increased across the two terms, and second-term interventions were more effective than first-term interventions. Analysis of variance indicated that the follow-up calls made to obtain these evaluations did not have a significant effect on the impact on academic achievement, involvement in the university, and certain developmental outcomes. / Ph. D.

The major purpose of this study was to investigate whether a career-oriented, freshman English class (WSACP), was beneficial in increasing student cognitive complexity beyond normal maturational development. Cognitive complexity was assessed along the Perry scheme of intellectual and ethical development by the Measure of Intellectual Development (MID). A pretest/ posttest quasi-experimental design was implemented to compare cognitive changes among an experimental (n=23) and two control groups (n=21/n=23). A secondary purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of WSACP on student retention rates. This study was based on the assumptions that an effective college-level career development program would: (a) be developmentally oriented, focusing on cognitive maturation through an emphasis on the writing process, (b) be taught within the regular academic curriculum, and thus be taken for academic credit, and (c) be collaboratively designed and taught. Using analysis of variance (ANOVA) procedures, the study found that the general cognitive complexity of the experimental group increased at significantly higher rates (at the .05 level) than that of the two combined control groups. The retention results. although encouraging, revealed no statistically significant differences between WSACP and 266 other freshman students. The major recommendations emanating from this study were: (a) institutions of higher education should encourage the development of "collaborative" courses in the areas of English and career development. Research should be conducted to substantiate the career development results of this study, and investigate the effects of such an approach on student writing, (b) the dimension of cognitive complexity should be included in the development of career programs, and (c) first-term career development activities should be included in any comprehensive retention program. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this study was to develop and test a conceptual model of influences of motivational factors and quality of effort on two freshman-year developmental outcomes. Literature on college effects indicates the importance of student characteristics in determining college outcomes, but does not provide evidence concerning the influences that students' nonacademic goals have on their growth and development. A sample of freshmen dormitory residents responded to the College Student Experiences questionnaire. Goals data were provided by a survey conducted during freshmen orientation. Ordinary least squares regression analyses were used to estimate effects of quality of effort dimensions, motivational factors (including goals for college), and four background characteristics on two outcomes--perceived personal-social gains and perceived intellectual gains. The hypothesized model did not fit the data. Highly intercorrelated quality of effort scores introduced multi-collinearity and led to unreliable estimates of the independent effects of the three quality of effort dimensions. The implications of collinearity and other characteristics of the data for interpretation of results were discussed. Regression results indicated that, among the motivational factors, the importance of social goals contributed the most to student estimates of personal-social gains while educational aspirations and certainty about major and career contributed the most to student estimates of intellectual gains. The relationships were partially mediated by quality of effort although interpretation of the indirect effects was limited by the collinearity of quality of effort dimensions. The social goals variable predicted the quality of participation both in group experiences and in personal-interpersonal experiences; educational aspirations and certainty about major and career both predicted the quality of academic experiences; and educational aspirations also contributed to prediction of the quality of personal-interpersonal experiences. The fourth motivational factor, importance of personal development goals, contributed to both outcomes but had no significant relationships with quality of effort dimensions. This surprising finding was thought to merit further investigation. Among the background characteristics, gender (female) was a strong predictor of both outcomes. / Ed. D.

This study reviewed the literature on the struggle for equal educational opportunity of the 1960s and 1970s, the reform movement of the 1990s, the public/private school debate of the 1980s and 1990s, the issue of school choice in the 1990s, and a brief history of private schools. The literature revealed that since the Supreme court's ruling, in 1954, on the unconstitutionality of separate-but-equal public schools and decisions on the separation of church and state, during the 1960s and 1970s, the number of and enrollment in private and parochial schools have grown steadily. This study was conducted on a sample of 14,242 students attending 17 colleges (15 private colleges and 2 public universities) to determine if there was a difference in their academic performance (GPA) at the end of their freshman year. The independent variables of the study were the size of the student's secondary school graduating class, the religious affiliation of the secondary school, the gender enrollment pattern of the secondary school, and the residential pattern of the secondary school. In addition, using the student's SAT score, an analysis was conducted to determine whether or not the student's first-year college GPA exceeded their GPA predicted by the SAT.

Wong, Chiu Wing. / Thesis (Ed.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 336-358). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese.

By analyzing data collected over a two-year time period from first-year students at eight private colleges and universities across the state of Indiana, this study analyzed the extent to which the self-reported educational and personal needs of African American students differed from those of Caucasian students. This study further measured how these students spent their time during their first year and examined the data based on racial classification. Finally, the study investigated how the two racial groups of students expressed satisfaction with their college choice at the end of one year of enrollment.Institutions were selected which had the largest number of African American students among the private colleges in the state of Indiana. Comparisons using descriptive statistical methods were made between African American and Caucasian students. These students completed two identical survey instruments at the same eight institutions. Two standardized instruments were used: the College Student Needs Assessment Survey (CSNAS), and the College Student Experiences Questionnaire (CSEQ). Students completed the needs assessment instrument during the first two months of their freshman year and took the CSEQ at the end of that year.The literature reflected that although more African Americans are enrolling in higher education, graduation rates remain lower than those of Caucasians. Numerous retention programs have been developed at higher educational institutions across the nation. These are specifically tailored toward meeting the perceived academic and social needs of African American students. However, uncertainty exists regarding how such needs may be different from those of Caucasian students.The findings suggest that African American students arrive at college with a generally higher level of self-reported academic needs than do Caucasian students based on a direct comparison between the two groups' responses on the CSNAS. However, statistical comparisons between the two groups on the CSEQ revealed relatively few areas on which the two racial groups differed significantly in how they spent their time while at college. The data revealed a statistically significant difference between the two groups regarding their overall satisfaction with their first year of college.Implications from this study concluded that to reflect changing demographics in society, higher education must become more inclusive. Furthermore, individual campuses need to place a priority upon addressing the apparent difference in the academic needs of the students who arrive to begin their higher educational experience. Administrators must be willing to make difficult choices in order to make equal educational opportunity a reality on college campuses rather than a mere slogan. / Department of Educational Leadership